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Toponymy and composition[edit]

The name of the United States' East Coast derives from the idea of the United States as having two distinct coastlines, one at its west and one at its east. Other terms to refer to this area by cardinal direction include the term "Eastern Seaboard" and simply East Coast. The region is also commonly referred to as the "Atlantic Coast" or "Atlantic Seaboard" due to the coastline being against the Atlantic Ocean.[citation needed]

Colonial history[edit]

Twelve of the original Thirteen Colonies of the United Kingdom in North America that later become the original states of the United States, each founded between 1607 (Virginia) and 1733 (Georgia), lay along the East Coast.[a] Two additional U.S. states on the East Coast were not among the original Thirteen Colonies: Maine (settled by the French, but later became part of British colony of Massachusetts in 1677)[3] and Florida (originally settled by the French; which traded hands between the British and Spanish until 1821).[4] The Middle Colonies (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware) had been owned by the Dutch as New Netherland until they were captured by the British in the mid-to-late 17th century.[citation needed]

Climate and physical geography[edit]

There are three basic climate regions on the East Coast from north to south: The region from Maine south to about Philadelphia has a temperate climate with warm to hot, usually humid summers and cool (in areas from NYC south) to cold (areas north of NYC) winters. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed around the year, with a slight November-December maximum along the Maine coast and a slight summer (July or August) maximum from Delaware southward. The region from Washington, DC south to central Florida has a subtropical climate, with generally mild (but variable) winters and hot, humid summers. Average monthly precipitation demonstrates a summer maximum (most pronounced from about Cape Hatteras, North Carolina southward), with July to September (June to September from about Charleston, SC southward) the wettest months on average, due to frequent summer thunderstorm activity, augmented by tropical systems (hurricanes and tropical storms), mostly from August to early October. The southern part of Florida is tropical, with a pronounced wet season in summer and dry season in winter, with small temperature changes annually.

The Eastern seaboard is susceptible to hurricanes in the Atlantic hurricane season, officially running from June 1 to November 30, although hurricanes can occur before or after these dates.[5] Hurricanes Hazel, Hugo, Bob, Isabel, Irene, and most recently Sandy are some of the more significant storms to have affected the region.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

^Those colonies were New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Pennsylvania is the 13th colony, excluded here because it accesses the coast only via the Delaware River.